Business Briefing / Labor

American pilots weigh job actions

American Airlines pilots are planning work disruptions short of a nationwide walkout if they're allowed to call a strike at the world's second-biggest carrier.

The Allied Pilots Assn. hopes that a strategy of "limited job actions" would improve its chances of being released from talks that began in September 2006, spokesman Sam Mayer said. The National Mediation Board will decide how long negotiations will go on.

The preparations highlight growing tensions between AMR Corp.'s American and its 11,500 pilots, who last struck 12 years ago. The union told the mediation board in December that bargaining was deadlocked and said it was studying options for job disruptions.